State Police Announce U.P. Promotions

MARQUETTE, MICH.    The Michigan State Police is proud to announce the promotions of D/Lt. Kevin Ryan to the Eighth District Special Investigation Section and Sgt. Brock Artfitch to the St. Ignace Post.  The promotions took effect on February 6.

Detective Lieutenant Ryan will oversee the MSP Special Investigative Section, commonly known as the detective bureau, throughout the Upper Peninsula.  He will be responsible for handling complex investigations and coordinating with local post detectives in their daily operations. D/Lt. Ryan is a graduate of the 116^th Trooper Recruit School, graduating in 1998.  Upon graduation, he was assigned as a trooper to the Lakeview Post where he spent 13 years before transferring to the Negaunee Post.  D/Lt. Ryan was promoted to sergeant in 2016 and shortly after, transferred into the detective bureau as a detective sergeant at the Negaunee Post.  Prior to his time with MSP, D/Lt. Ryan spent 6 years as a patrol officer at Reed City Police Department.  D/Lt. Ryan is originally from Munising.

Sergeant Artfitch joins the St. Ignace Post where he will oversee the day-to-day operations of MSP services to the Mackinac County area.  Sgt. Artfitch is a graduate of the 127^th Trooper Recruit School, graduating in 2014.  After graduation, he was assigned to the Gaylord Post where he spent several years handling traffic and criminal incidents.  He then transferred to the Seventh District Hometown Security Team where he spent the last 2 ½ years specializing in drug and criminal interdiction.  Sgt. Artfitch holds a juris doctorate degree from the Michigan State University Law School and comes to the St. Ignace Post with much experience and training in the criminal justice system.  Sgt. Artfitch is originally from northeast Nebraska.